I Must Win
by artisinthecreationofsubtext
Summary: Set after Series 2, Episode 3. Lauren was in control of her entire life, and liked it. Until Sadie Anderson came and snapped it all, like a heartbroken Siren with an objective. Rating may change.
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer: Not mine. Not mine at all. Characters etc. Courtesy of Harriet Braun and team and the BBC.**_

_**A/N: Hi, enjoy. Slash.**_

**_It Will End When I Win_**

The assistant looked harried and upset when he entered Lauren's office, biting his pert bottom lip. Lauren glanced up to note his presence before returning to her computer screen, face completely blank.

"She's back?"

He nodded and she only just caught it out of the corner of her eye. Slowly; feigning boredom; Lauren pulled up the document she had perused many times over the past few weeks, and nodded back. He was gone in a second. Lauren stretched leisurely out over the back of her office chair and watched the doors subtly though the wisps of hair falling into her face.

Would it work this time? Her plan of denial? Of course it would. If Lauren was anything, it was loving. She loved everything, from her wife to the tulips in the corner of her balcony on her Glasgow apartment. She loved her wife and she could be faithful. Even in the face of blatant seduction – such as that which Sadie Anderson brought with her into her office, cleverly disguised by a pair of black sunglasses and a sheet of paper black with smudged ink.

"I thought I told you I wasn't interested." Lauren drawled, watching as the woman took the chair opposite her, reclining and crossing her legs at the knee. Subtly, to draw the eye, Sadie rubbed her ankles together.

"You also said I have _talent_..." She replied, leaning forward with a playful smirk. "And allowed me to prove it."

"That was a one time thing, Miss Anderson." Lauren tossed her hair. "I said that too."

The woman chuckled, the sound full of suggestion. "You say alot of things. If I were to take them all as law, we would be having _alot _more fun right now."

"What do you want, Sadie?" Sadie visibly shuddered at the sound of her name, face becoming more sensual. Before she could respond, Lauren sighed. "I know you didn't just come here to flirt, so get to the point."

Sadie groaned. "Why are you never any fun?"

"I'm _married_." The other woman hissed, unconsciously leaning forward to give Sadie a welcoming view of her breasts.

"You said that." She finally looked bored, as though the effort to not take advantage of the situation was taking it's toll on her patience." Look, I got a friend to spell check my article. Will you try it again?"

"But Sadie, I already ran it." She was visibly thrown. "I put the money into your account a week ago, and emailed you. It was in the last edition." Lauren smirked, more comfortable now that she finally had the upper hand. "We do have editors, you know. And it was a good article."

"Oh."

"Will that be all, Miss Anderson?"

Sadie stood and left, looking a little dazed. Lauren giggled a little at her win, oxygen finally filling her lungs and making her realize that she actually hadn't breathed throughout the entire encounter. It was fine now though. She had said no. She had rebuffed temptation. She had-

"Wait, forgot this."

Lauren's trail of thought was abruptly cut off by the girl pinning her to her chair, mouth on hers, tongue warring with her own. The smell of flowers and cigarette smoke clogged her brain and through the haze she was dully aware of the familiar, sweet taste the other woman left. Her hands rose and rested on the breast and back of Sadie's leather jacket of their own accord. Her mind was detatched, screaming profanities whilst Lauren's body curved into the shape of Sadie's, but her heart was pounding and she was slowly getting dizzier.

_Stop it. Stop it now. _

And then Sadie was gone and Lauren wondered for a moment if she had actually listened to herself, but the feeling of unexpected emptiness said otherwise. Sadie had left her. And yet again, the entire situation was _out of her control_.

"Fuck." Lauren groaned, smacking a hand onto her keyboard in a fit of fury.

_**A/N: I don't quite know whether to continue it and make a whole story, full of smut and slashy sweetness, or if this will just be it. Review and let me know? Thank you.**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Disclaimer: Not mine. Not mine at all. Characters etc. Courtesy of Harriet Braun and team and the BBC.**_

_**A/N: Hi, enjoy. Sort of a filler chapter.**_

**1**

Sadie Anderson had been having a hard time since Frankie left for New York. You wouldn't have known it to look at her; she had long since mastered her mask of prepared nonchalance; but she had never felt quite right when she wasn't with the woman since she entered her life. When she first left, Sadie had been prepared – it was something expected, and it didn't take too long to move on. This time, things had changed. Seeing Frankie's soft side had knocked her back, drawn her in, and left her unprotected when she left. She supposed it was worse this time for many reasons; but the fact that Frankie knew exactly how she felt and left anyway harboured most of the blame. That woman was without a doubt the most heartless girl Sadie had ever shared a bed with – including herself.

She hadn't spoken to Frankie since she'd left, and she hadn't heard _of _her either. Everyday she'd check with Tess, her unwilling flatmate, but apparently she hadn't yet deigned to update her best friends of her continued existence. Lexy didn't have news either – unsurprising – and the one time Sadie dared approach the still-grieving Sam she'd been knocked back violently with nothing to show for it. Sorrow, an emotion Sadie still felt like a physical presence, was slowly fading into less humane notions like annoyance and anger.

Despite the emotional upheaval in her private life, Sadie had managed to pay the next month's rent to Tess out of what she had decided to call Lauren's Hush Fund, and the two had come to an uneasy agreement. If Sadie didn't bring back random girls every night, Tess would clean. If Tess didn't pressure Sadie into doing anything girly or stupid – such as spend time with her and her snotty boyfriend thing – Ed, was it? – Sadie wouldn't bring home random girls every night.

It had been working out quite well all around. In the two weeks since the Gabriella Incident, the only bedfellow Sadie had had was Lauren. And as she reasoned with herself, that was strictly business. And a one time thing.

It was this mantra Sadie repeated to herself every time the woman – _and she was all woman _– made her unwelcome appearance in Sadie's head. It wasn't so often as to be a problem, only about once a day or so, but just enough to be a distraction. A hassle, actually, as it had come to the point where there would be long stretches of time in which only thoughts of Lauren came to mind; every so often interrupted by thoughts of Lexy Price, the Australian next door. _Literally, next door_.

In her opinion, Frankie and Tess could not possibly have chosen a worse woman to move in with. A _doctor_. She would always play her music loud, fuck her women even louder, and didn't hesitiate to make her disapproval of Sadie's life known. Of course, she was an angel in Tess' eyes. The poor girl. A blind man could see that Lexy's attention was elsewhere.

Sadie's room was a messy haven – dirty clothes, sticky glasses and overflowing ashtrays covered every surface. She had to brush a bra out of her face when she entered, pausing for a moment only to wonder how it got there before shrugging and throwing it into the hamper Tess would no doubt unwillingly empty. It was the least of her worries though, as she dropped the bright yellow paperback onto her bed. It weighed a _ton_.

_The English Language and How To Use It – For Dummies_. Her latest challenge. Despite how much she disagreed with Lauren's verdict on her article (she could spell just as well as any other Glaswegian) she would wow her the next time. Not for the money, or the job, just because she _could_. No woman in her right mind liked being bested, and Sadie less than most. That was why even when she lived in her car she would walk around with perfect hair, perfect clothes and the sexiest bedroom eyes in the whole of the city. Well, second sexiest, but her competition was in America now so it was moot.

The problem with Sadie wasn't laziness, or a lack of ambition, it was a knack for distraction. Twenty minutes after she started her work – she'd allowed one of her potential fucks to pay for a theatre ticket for specifically this purpose – the Australian arrived, laughing obnoxiously in the corridor.

"Oi, can you keep it down?" Sadie griped, slamming shut her book to launch it through the open door at the opposite wall. Within seconds a shocked blonde poked her head around the doorframe, mouth breaking into a grin at the sight of Sadie sitting cross-legged on her bed.

"Oh, it's you! The girl with the Italian!" She said, picking up the book and crossing the threshold uninvited to put it on the edge of the bed. "I hope you restocked the kitchen. I'm Bea."

"Sadie." She drawled in reply, shooting the girl daggers. "What are you-"

"Bea, you shouldn't go in there, Sadie doesn't like being disturbed." Lexy appeared then, tossing an apple she'd just snatched from the kitchen between her hands. "Oh, hi."

Sadie shook her body and took a deep breath before looking back up at the two grinning morons. It was her usual routine for dealing with people who annoyed her without the use of violence ('violence belongs in the bedroom, not the streets' had always been her motto). Bea caught the look in her eyes quickly and backed up a little. "Erm, nice to see you again." She muttered, fleeing into the hallway. Lexy stood there for a second, looking after her friend before meeting Sadie's hate-filled gaze.

"You've got a letter, by the way. Since when did your mail start coming here?"

"Not interested."

She tried again. "It might be from Frankie."

"That's what email's for." Sadie's attention started to siphon itself away and she looked at the book set precariously on the corner.

"It says Minus 21 on it. Isn't that who Frankie did those-"

Sadie blocked the rest of her speech out as she wandered into the hallway, trying with all of her might not to run to the door. She didn't even know where her excitement was coming from, and wasn't sure she wanted to. She couldn't ignore the light, airy feeling she got when she picked up the stiff white envelope and read that it was indeed her name typed onto the sticker. It overwhelmed her to the point that her bedroom door was slammed in Lexy's face before the girl had time to say 'g'day mate' or whatever aussies say.

And so, work was finished for that afternoon.

_**A/N: Hi there, I decided I should make it into a story, mostly because I enjoy writing Sadie and Lauren and I can't think of a different plot right now. Did you enjoy it? Did you hate it? Let me know. Please. Thanks to the reviewer from the last chapter who helped me make up my mind!**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Disclaimer: Not mine. Not mine at all. Characters etc. Courtesy of Harriet Braun and team and the BBC.**_

_**A/N: Hi, it's been a while, but I'm back! New chapter and everything. **_

**2**

It doesn't reflect well on her, you know. Having her come waltzing in and out as she pleases. Half of the staff think she's having an affair. The other half think Sadie's a very persistent prostitute. Nonetheless, it's not an ideal situation to be in. By all rights she should tell her to fuck off, or something similar. Sadie's not right. After all, she's just some poor pretty girl - and nothing good ever comes of poor pretty girls.  
But you know. That's life. And Lauren likes having Sadie around. And her wife loves her. Just the other night she told her that it was "nice Lauren's finally making friends". If only she knew.  
Sadie can't write for anything, but Lauren hires her anyway. There's just something about it. She's so honest in her work. There's so much of her in it. It's like everytime she comes into the office she's selling Lauren another tiny piece of her soul - but Lauren'd never express it like that to her, of course. She'd hate it. She'd never come back.  
Which as I say, probably wouldn't be such a bad thing. You know, for her image.  
Lauren wife's in today. Sat on the edge of the desk as she does her work. The gallery's closed and she wanted something to do, so she has answering her phone as they scribble sweet nothings on post its and stick them to places when the other takes a break. She stuck one to Lauren's chair last time. "Miss intelligent". Lauren had hers all ready and she was about to ask her for a cup of tea so that she could stick it to her chair when the phone rang.  
"Hello, Lauren's office, how may I help?"  
Lauren span on her chair and listened to her wife, the love of her life, laugh, and then turned to see her passing over the phone.  
"It's Sadie," she told her with a grin. Lauren slid her fingers across the receiver and put it to her ear with a forced smile.  
"Miss Anderson."  
"Hello, Lauren." Her voice was strained, her usually prominent Glasgow accent clipped. "Thanks for the tickets." Lauren's smile became more natural, remembering the gift she'd slipped into the post.  
"I thought you could use them for your next article." Lauren's voice didn't betray her, it was stoic and businesslike.  
"Why, thank you, but I won't be needing them. I've already finished my latest."  
She blinked in shock and pushed on. "Use them for the next?"  
"There will be no next. Sorry, babe."  
"What? Why not?!" Lauren threw the words quickly before she could hang up. Her wife watched her, worried.  
"That was your wife that answered the phone, wasn't it?"  
Lauren frowned. "What of it?"  
"I was going to pop by," Sadie's rich laugh sounded through the phone. It was nice to hear. "But I guess I can't now." The cockiness seemed to falter at the end, but it might have been Lauren's imagination.  
A rush of air and a click and she handed the phone back to her wife in shock. "Aww, thank you," She smiled, finding the little blue post-it reading "beautiful eyes".

"Could you bring me some tea, please, dear?" Lauren asked. Nodding, her wife left, and Lauren turned away. Letting out a breath, she frowned. What was happening to her? She didn't care about her love's smiled right then, she just wanted to know what was going on with Sadie. She grabbed her coat.


End file.
